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Canada’s 5G future awaits — if it can navigate the politics of Huawei, China and Donald Trump’s America

VANCOUVER—The global race to 5G promises a world filled with self-driving vehicles, autonomous garbage cans and internet connectivity at a speed beyond what we’ve seen.

The University of British Columbia announced this week it’s become the first university in North America to cross the finish line by becoming a “smart campus” that will function as a test-kitchen of sorts for 5G applications in a “real-life” setting.

“With 5G at our doorstep, we’re focused on bringing together Canada’s brightest minds to research, incubate and commercialize applications that will transform the way we live and work,” said Jorge Fernandes, chief technology officer with Rogers Communications.

But Canada still has a looming decision to make.

If this country wants to be on the forefront of deploying the next generation of the internet, the government must decide whether it will ban Chinese telecom giant Huawei from building it in Canada, one researcher says.

The politics at play

“One of the things affecting the rate at which 5G is deployed is certain to be how, and if, the government will allow Huawei into the Canadian telecom structure,” said Christopher Parsons, senior researcher at Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School.

Parsons pointed to former public safety minister Ralph Goodale’s comments that the decision would come down after the federal election.

It’s a decision that’s particularly charged, as it provides a foundation for relations with China, the United States and Canada’s global allies.

Australia, New Zealand and the United States have already blocked Huawei’s 5G equipment, citing concerns it may enable surveillance by the Chinese government — a charge the company vehemently denies. The Trump administration has been pressuring Canada to ban Huawei from its networks.

Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018 on an extradition request by the United States. The Chinese government then arrested Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig on vague charges related to national security. They also toughened the sentence of a Canadian held on drug charges — changing a 15-year prison sentence to the death sentence — and blocked Canadian canola exports to China.

In July, Goodale said that Canada needed more information from the United States about the nature of the potential security threat the U.S. believes the company poses before making a decision. Goodale has since lost his seat in October’s election and cabinet ministers are not expected to be announced until Nov. 20.

The two waves of 5G

Meanwhile, Parsons said there’s a “routine” confusion when it comes to understanding 5G.

There are two stages: As part of the first, upgrades have already improved our existing 4G networks, allowing our devices to move much faster, letting us share greater volumes of digital data and making certain technology, such as augmented reality, possible.

The other stage lies further into the future, and is the subject of much of the 5G hype. It’s the stuff of self-driving cars, smart cities and autonomous surgical units. Parsons said it will take Canada at least 10 years to get there.

“That rollout depends significantly on updating the core infrastructure of all telecom networks,” Parsons said. “The advantages of 5G take place when the entirety of the back networks and core infrastructure is updated. That takes time and it is expensive.”

Simply put, the better our network and the more interconnected our world, the greater our vulnerabilities to bad actors.Current networks are constantly being updated for security features and novel vulnerabilities in a 5G world are expected.

The U.S. pressure on Canada over Huawei goes back to former president Barack Obama’s days, Parsons said.

“Those are major concerns. One underappreciated thing is the huge volume of data Canadians send and use (that), in fact, passes through the U.S. before re-arriving back in Canada,” he said. “If Americans genuinely do believe it’s a national security threat, that could have a severe impact here at home.”

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The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) partners with the department of Public Safety, Global Affairs Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development to work together to examine the emergent tech and associated security and economic concerns.

The CSE said it could not comment on specific companies but pointed to the government’s ongoing security review of 5G

“Many countries, our allies in particular, have been taking a close look at this matter for some time. The issues are well understood,” said Evan Koronewski, CSE media spokesperson. “We will be taking appropriate decisions in due course. We will ensure that our networks are kept safe for Canadians.”

In the U.K., Huawei equipment is deployed only after it is evaluated by the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre. Findings presented in a 2019 report to the U.K.’s national security adviser stated that Huawei is grossly insecureand poses “significantly increased risk to U.K. operators.”

Rogers Communications partnered with UBC to advance its 5G research and avoided some of the security questions by using infrastructure partner Ericsson. The company is planning for a national commercial deployment of its 5G network — more of the first stage, to which Parsons alludes — in 2020.

Other players in the market may eagerly awaiting the federal government’s Huawei decision. Bell and Telus, for instance, have “substantive” investments in Huawei, Parsons said.

Huawei is able to produce equipment at a cheaper cost than its competitors as it is subsidized by the Chinese state, he explained. The Chinese telecom is ahead of the curve and stands to reap huge economic benefits and establish itself as a technological powerhouse, according to global reports.

“Ripping out infrastructure is not easy. Not without spending billions of dollars,” he explained.

A big country, with big hurdles

Canada will also have unique challenges when it comes to fully adopting the promise of 5G.

Firstly, Parsons said there is a risk of slowdown because of pushback from municipalities. To get speeds at 500 times the current phone standard, thousands of small 5G towers would have to be installed in every city.

“Where can you put these towers? How quickly can they be deployed? Communities want 5G speed, but they don’t want towers sitting around them,” he said. “Urban environments may present a challenge.”

Meanwhile, Canada is large. That means it could be a very long time before areas outside of urban centres will have 5G service, Parsons said.

The hype and promises around 5G are exciting. For example, a remote community in B.C. could have a surgery performed remotely by a doctor controlling the surgical tools from Winnipeg.

“But that’s only possible if Winnipeg and that northern community had 5G infrastructure installed,” Parsons said. “That’s expensive and it’s shared.”

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